Her Dauntless [2] //Divergent// Eric Coulter

Hennessy Hayes

TWENTY-TWO✧

Condor's members stopped and stared as we walked up the paths and up the stairs to the main doors.
The lobby hadn't changed. The floor was white marble with the Scales engraved largely on the floor – the columns had large black marble tiles that contradicted the brightness off the floor. In the middle of the lobby were two large black escalators that, looking up when to the top of the building, off to the sides parallel to the escalators where eight lifts, four on each side.
On the ceiling was a large Chrystal chandelier that took up most of the space above us.
To the left was the large eatery was labelled by a hanging sign and to the right was the main courtroom. Upstairs on the first floor where the smaller courthouses and the room where the Serums was stored.

A large crowd of lawyers exited from the ground floor courtrooms lead by Jack Kang and my father. Both looked confused and terrified at the large group of transient armed Dauntless that stood in the middle of the pristine lobby. I stood looking around, assessing the situation and the hostility that seemed to be brewing, Christina seemed the most comfortable being back here whereas Angel and I wanted to run in the opposite direction. 
Pushing her way to the front, my Stepsister stood with her arms crossed as she stared at us; the way she started down her nose reminded me all too well of her mother.

"Vanessa?"
"Hi, dad." I greeted," Jack."

Jack looked at the crowd," Vanessa, and three other representatives please follow me to the offices where you can... explain this unexpected visit."
Looking at the crowds, I looked at the members who had followed us here," Who else?"
"Tori!" A girl yelled, "She's one of the oldest members here, she should have a seat."
Tori rolled her eyes," Thanks as if I wasn't joyful enough about my youth crumbling away to dust. Who else?"
"Shauna!" Zeke yelled.
"No." She spoke up," I don't want that kind of responsibility."
I looked up at her," Please all you have to do is explain it from how you saw it."
"Fine." She sighed," And the last one should be Harry, you two uncovered this conspiracy."
Harry punched the air," Told you it's in conspiracy territory."
Ronnie punched him in the arm," Shut up."
"Angel and Christina," Tori spoke, getting their attention," Keep everyone in the lobby, if anyone gets lost you guys know the compound better than any of us, we'll be back soon with hopefully good news."

The lift up to Jack's office was awkward, the four of us stayed to one side of the lift whereas Jack and my dad stayed on the other side. The lifts where made form the same white marble as the floors with the Candor insignia in black metal on the top. Around the edges it was mirrored, this way no one could hide anything when travelling between floors.

Stopping on the eighteenth floor, the view was incredible. From here you could see far out beyond the wall to the edges of the Amity farming grounds. Jack lead us to his office which took up most of the space, the furniture was black whereas the walls and floor where white. There was a potted plant on the shelves, but it was mostly filled with pictures of his growing family and awards he had won internally.
"Care to explain why seventy dauntless members ranging in age are currently residing in the lobby?"
"Well," Shauna started, "Nessa, this is your old faction, you explain."
Rolling my eyes at her, I turned to my old faction representative," Do you want a summary or an in-depth description?"
"In-depth description." Jack spoke," Now, I know your tells so you can't lie to me."
Nodding, I let out all the air in my lung," Well, it started all the way back in my in –"
"Recent in-depth description.' Jack clarified," Though the origins of this might be needed later."
"Ok." I went to roll my shoulder, but was stopped by a quick pinch by Harry," Since the beginning of this initiation class, Harry, Four and I have been keeping tabs on the situation at dauntless since it arose last year. Every morning we sat on a rooftop and spied as Erudite unloaded loads of new equipment that seemingly went nowhere. So, we broke into one and found these orange serum bottles. That and with other information given to me by... yeah, we concluded that it was based off an internal project run by a woman who was subsequently killed leaving her daughter in Erudite and a Son in Dauntless. Last night they injected every member and killed anyone who wasn't under influence of the serum."
"So Jeanine orchestrated this?" Dad asked us.
Harry nodded," Yeah, she was in abnegation when we were."
Jack nodded," You four and several others will have to go through the truth Serum to ensure you haven't missed anything. We can set up a hostel of sorts on the six-floor where the large study space is, we gave give you a few medical supplies for any injuries you may have gotten from the attack."
"Thank you." Tori spoke," We are sorry for dropping in and putting you in this position Mr Kang."
"As long as you stay truthful and pull your weight here, you can stay till you find something more permanent." He said standing up," Now if you could follow me to the courtrooms, we can pick up some other members at the same time."